


Teatime

by StorytimeWithSteph



Category: Slayers (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Bickering, Bonding, Drinking Tea, Gen, a cute baby dragon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:29:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28535169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StorytimeWithSteph/pseuds/StorytimeWithSteph
Summary: Filia tries to relax with a soothing cup of tea. It's hard to do, because Xelloss keeps breaking into her house.[Written for Slayers Week's Secret Santa 2020.]
Relationships: Filia Ul Copt & Xellos
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	Teatime

**Author's Note:**

  * For [samcatburglar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/samcatburglar/gifts).



> This is my gift to samcat aka Dragon Mom for the Slayers Secret Santa 2020! The prompt: "Anything Xelfi related because I’m trash – maybe them sharing a quiet moment over tea and being kind of weirded out by the fact that it feels… not?? bad?? or bickering over what tea is better if u want some Anger lmao." (spolier alert, I chose both.) Enjoy!

The first time it happened, Filia had just placed a pot of freshly-brewed chamomile tea on the kitchen table. She turned around—just for a split second—to retrieve some honey from the pantry. A familiar chill ran violently down her spine, and when she looked back at the table, there he was—Xelloss, the servant of Greater Beast, bane of all dragonkind, pouring himself a cup of tea with a carefree grin on his face.

At first, she was too shocked to speak—she simply pointed at him, mouth agape. How long had it been since the last time she’d had to stomach that infuriating smile of his? _Not long enough_ , she decided as she watched him lift the tiny teacup to his lips, slurping so loudly she was afraid he’d wake the baby in the other room.

He lowered the cup into the flattened palm of his free hand, his smile sinking into a discerning frown. “Oh dear, you’ve steeped it for far too long. And after I came all this way to try some…”

Filia’s hands tightened into fists as her tail crashed into a bowl of wax fruit. “And how do _you_ know that?! As if a monster like _you_ could tell the first thing about tea—”

“I know that _actual_ tea comes from leaves,” Xelloss interrupted. “Might I suggest a nice oolong instead?”

“No you may _not_!” Filia said. She gritted her teeth, folded her arms, and looked away, her cheeks reddening. She would have been perfectly happy to ignore him, but she supposed it would be more logical to try to find out just what, exactly, he was doing in her house. As she was figuring out how to frame the question, a fuzzy head poked its way in through the door.

“Oi, what’s all this racket?! Can’t a bloke get a little shut-eye around here?”

Filia’s head whipped around towards the entranceway. “What? Jillas, you’re _supposed_ to be minding the shop right now!”

“Well I _would_ be mindin’ it, boss, ‘cept no one ever comes in. And with how you was screaming bloody murder an’ all, I thought maybe you an’ young Master Val was under attack.”

“We _are_ under attack!” Filia said. She pointed back at Xelloss, who was finishing another sip of tea.

“Hello,” Xelloss said blithely, waving at the beastman.

In the other room, Val started to cry. Filia’s ears pricked up. “Oh, don’t worry, sweetie, Mommy’s coming to save you from the big, bad monster,” she said, though it seemed more directed towards Xelloss than the baby who lay in his crib two doors down.

Her skirts swished and swayed behind her as she ran down the hallway towards the baby’s bedside.

Jillas sighed, clambered over to the table, and climbed into a chair. “D’you want some biscuits with that, guv?” he asked Xelloss.

He got no reply. The Mazoku had vanished.

***

The second time it happened, Filia managed to keep her cool long enough to ask a question.

“Hrm, earl grey. A step in the right direction, I suppose,” Xelloss said as he materialized into the room.

She’d been in the middle of spoon-feeding applesauce to Val, who was strapped securely into his height chair. At the sound of the Mazoku’s voice, she nearly jumped out of her skin, splattering a spoonful of applesauce onto her face in the process.

She turned around slowly, and there he was again, drinking _her_ tea. Val giggled at the sight of the priest, but Filia was less than amused.

“What are you up to _now_?” she demanded, aggressively wiping applesauce off her cheek.

Xelloss waved his free hand about in the air. “Me? Oh, nothing exciting, I’m afraid—just some routine patrols. A bit of reconnaissance here and there. Gathering intelligence and the like.”

Filia narrowed her eyes. “ _Why?_ Are you spyingon me?!” she asked.

Xellos smiled. “More or less, yes. Pass the sugar?”

She hadn’t expected such an honest answer—it left her momentarily stunned and speechless.

Xelloss went on, as casual as ever. “Of course, I _could_ just quietly lurk in the shadows, completely undetected, tracking your every move—but isn’t it nicer to catch up over a hot cup of tea?” He took another sip. “Although this one could stand to be a bit hotter, if we’re being honest.”

Filia covered Val’s eyes with one hand and threw the entire sugar bowl at Xelloss with the other. It hit him squarely in the face.

Xelloss grimaced a bit as it bounced off. “You’re _really_ a terrible hostess, you know.”

***

The third time it happened, she was sinking into an overstuffed chair with a book and a cup of honeyed ginger tea.

“Oh, what’s this? A romance novel? Not very highbrow, but then there’s no accounting for taste, is there?”

Filia looked up, and sure enough, Xelloss was levitating cross-legged in the air on the other side of the coffee table.

“Dear me—is this a bad time?” He asked, scratching his cheek with his index finger.

Filia snapped the book shut and simply stared at him, her eyebrow twitching dangerously.

Xelloss cautiously picked up a teacup. They drank together in silence.

***

The fourth time it happened, over a pot of jasmine tea inside the shop, Filia and Xelloss somehow accidentally managed to start a conversation.

“How’s business?” he asked.

“Fine,” she replied, looking over his shoulder at a shelf that hung on the wall.

Another silence stretched out between them. Filia was the one to break it. “Maces haven’t been selling well,” she muttered out of the side of her mouth.

“Well, that makes perfect sense to me,” Xelloss said. “It’s a peaceful town.”

He took a long sip of his tea, draining it to the dregs—then he grinned from ear to ear. “Shall I start a war to drum up some sales?”

“Don’t you _dare!”_

***

The fifth time, they managed to pick things up where they left off—sort of. He appeared just as she set down the teapot on the shop counter, ready to pour himself some.

“Well, I must say I’m pleasantly surprised. High mountain oolong tea from the Kataart region, isn’t it?”

Filia only froze for a moment, the corners of her mouth edging downward. “That’s correct,” she said.

“My! I can’t imagine it’s easy to come by out here. You must’ve paid quite a lot for these leaves. How very generous of you to share,” Xellos said, swirling the hot liquid around in his cup.

 _Like I have a choice,_ Filia thought.

The Mazoku took a sip and smiled, his gaze drifting towards the rack of dusty, unsold weapons. “Still having trouble moving those maces?”

Filia drank her own tea, only slightly annoyed. “It’s fine if they don’t sell. I do well enough with the pottery.”

“Is that so?” Xelloss didn’t have a comeback for once—he regarded the dragon attentively. Filia took it as a cue to keep talking.

“It’s a good lesson for the boys,” she went on, somewhat self-satisfied. “Supply and demand. And how to use a feather duster,” she said, shooting Gravos a meaningful look from across the room.

“Oh, _all_ _right,_ ” Gravos grimaced and slunk off towards the broom closet. Val, who was bouncing around in a baby swing nearby, waved at the burly beastman as he passed.

“Someday, Val’s going to need to learn responsibility, too. That’s why I bought the shop in the first place,” Filia said. She leaned her chin in her palm, her eyes searching out something beyond the earthen walls. She absently stirred a lump of sugar into her tea. “From what I’ve gathered, Miss Lina grew up in her family’s shop, too. It’s a much happier life for a child...so that’s why I decided—” she stopped mid-sentence. “Oh, never mind. Why am I telling _you_ all this, anyway?”

Xelloss shrugged and smiled mysteriously. “Who knows?”

He sat pensively for a while before speaking up again. “Although I must say, if Val grows up to be like Miss Lina, you’ll certainly have your hands full.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “And so will I.”

Filia almost choked on her tea.

“Oh but I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about,” the priest said jovially. He poured himself another cup of oolong.

“You know,” he added offhandedly, “I think I prefer the chamomile after all.”

***

The next evening, after Val had gone to bed, Filia put on a pot of chamomile tea. When it was done, she carried it to the kitchen table and set it down warily, scanning the room out of habit.

Her paranoia, for once, was unwarranted. She was alone at last—peace and quiet reigned supreme. There was no one to bother her. 

She finished her cup and waited. Her fingers began drumming irritably against the table. Time passed quietly, and the tea in the pot grew cold.

“ _Well_!” Filia huffed into the empty room. “Of all the nerve.”

***

The sixth time it happened, about five months later, Filia hadn’t actually brewed any tea. The sun still wasn’t up yet, but the smell of cinnamon and the sound of a kettle lured her into the kitchen. She peered carefully around the corner, ready for anything—well, _almost_ anything. She hadn’t really anticipated Xelloss wearing her pink apron.

“Are you aware of what time it is?” she said, grumbling as she groggily rubbed her eyes. “...and how ridiculous you look?”

“Not remotely,” the Mazoku said, turning around with a teapot in his hands. “Care for some chai?” He placed a teacup in her hand on the way to the table.

Filia sniffed the contents of the cup, checking it for poison. Just because Xelloss had managed to be on his best behavior the _last_ few times he’d crashed her teatime didn’t mean she trusted him as far as she could throw him. Especially since the last time he’d dropped in had been nearly half a year ago.

“Where have you been?” she asked. She trudged up to her chair and sat down.

“Here and there,” answered the priest. “Would you believe me if I told you I took part in defeating the ghost of Shabranigdo?”

Filia scoffed. “That sounds _highly_ unlikely.”

“Well, believe what you want. It’s really quite a story, though. Shall I start at the beginning?”

Filia didn’t say yes—she didn’t say no, either. Xelloss began spinning a long-winded tale that started with an inspector from Ruvinagald and ended with a Giga Slave. The whole story was, as she had guessed, highly unlikely.

In fact, it was about as unlikely as a Mazoku and a Golden Dragon sharing a pot of tea.


End file.
